Long journey approaching NFL dream for Xavier Thomas

Xavier Thomas' latest stage toward an NFL dream was pro day in Clemson this week.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Fri Mar 15 12:30:08 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON— After a long journey, Xavier Thomas is finally ready for the NFL. He made his name known at Clemson’s Pro Day on Thursday with a 4.56 40-yard dash time and a 1.55-second 10-yard split, the second-fastest of any Clemson player between the NFL combine and pro day.

Coming out of high school as a consensus top-five prospect among 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals, Thomas had high expectations in his first season with the Tigers, and he lived up to them as a freshman All-American, as well as recording a 0.5 sack in Clemson’s National Championship victory over Alabama. After another strong season in 2019, COVID hit in 2020, and when he had COVID and strep throat, he wound up limited to seven games.

“It really took a lot in regard to really just turning my life around after that COVID year hit in 2020. In regard to my six years, I already had to take a reset. So, I really call my 2021 year my freshman year all over again, just really had to reset on life, and that’s why I had to put that time in again and get myself back on track to where I wanted to be,” Thomas said. “So really, just try to be an inspiration to others in regards to when you (get) knocked down that you can always get back up … In 2020, I was at my lowest. I was ready to quit football and all that type of stuff. So, really just keeping the faith and giving my life over to Christ and really just giving all things to him in regards to not (doubting) anything in life and turning my life around.

“Those first couple years coming in as a top recruit and those kinds of things, freshman All-American, National Championship, went back to (the National Championship) my sophomore year obviously, and coming in, everybody telling you you're a three-and-out guy (to the NFL), having all this success as a young kid and I wasn’t putting in any extra work or anything like that. I was really just getting by off my talent and was a kid during that time and really wasn’t putting in any extra work, extra film.

“It was a really humbling experience in that 2020 year in regards to resetting my life and really learning how to put in extra work, really learning how to eat like a pro, taking care of my body like a pro, those types of things.”

During his time at Clemson, Thomas has been open about his battle with depression and how he has overcome adversity. Now, going into the draft process, he has drawn interest from every NFL team and met with each one. Every team asked about his story and how he persevered throughout his career.

“A little bit humbling at times in regard to having to really be one-on-one with every single team in regards to them really wanting to know you as a person. Definitely I take it with a grain of salt in regards to them really getting to know me as a person in regards to me as a football player,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely something you really have to take serious in regards to the process because obviously, you want to train well and work out well and get good numbers. But, the interview process is really important so they can know you as a person.”

With everything he has gone through, it would be easy for him to be angry or resentful about everything that happened to him. Instead, Thomas has been able to reflect back on his journey.

“It was all a blessing in disguise in regards to my journey here and in regards to what I had to go through and I’m glad it went the way it did because I wouldn’t have been ready to go in regards to, if I did go three-and-out, I probably would have lasted about two years in the league because I wasn’t a grown man yet. I was still a kid,” Thomas said. “So, I’m really glad I went through what I did, and I’m ready to be a professional athlete.”

The NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 25 (8 p.m./various networks), with the first round, then continues on Friday, April 26 (7 p.m./various networks), with rounds two and three. It will conclude on Saturday, April 27 (noon/various networks), with the final four rounds.